Got this from cousin Mike…
Once upon a time a man appeared in a village and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each. The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and began catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 but, as the supply began to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.
;)
So the man announced that he would now buy monkeys at $20 each. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. But again, as the supply diminished even further, the villagers returned to their farms.
When the offer was increased to $25 each, the supply of monkeys became so scarce that it was an effort to even find one, let alone catch it!
So the man announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 each, adding that, since he had to go to the city on business, his assistant would buy on his behalf.
In his absence, the assistant told the villagers, “Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has already collected. I will sell them to you at $35 each and, when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each.” The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys for $700 Billion. They never saw the man or his assistant again, only lots and lots of monkeys!
Now you have a better understanding of the federal Wall Street bailout.